Oranges
by RedSavant
Summary: An experimental oneshot, based off Chao/Hakase and the prompt 'Oranges'. My first attempt at a random-pairing random-prompt fic. Implied and explicit shojo-ai.


**A/N: Alright, my first MSN ficlet. This is a short Chao/Hakase fic, nothing too deep. Hakase's a bit out of character now that I think about it, but... she's been working all day and she's tired, I guess? Please R&R, I could use the writing advice.**

**Oranges**

Satomi could almost hear Chao Linshen's jaw crack as the Chinese girl heaved a massive yawn. "We should keep an eye on those actuators, I think, but I doubt they'll give us any problems -yo," she commented, hanging up her lab coat. "Wow, it's already midnight. Satomi-chan, will you be staying? Sensei will get angry if we get to class late tomorrow… though he's not as imposing as he thinks he is -ne."

"Hm? Oh, no. I didn't like the sound the primary drive shaft was making, so I'm gonna stay and check it out," Satomi replied, adjusting her glasses with one hand as she reviewed the schematic on her clipboard.

"Okay. Don't stay up all night, Satomi-chan." Satomi heard the door close behind her as Chao left; she idly spun her chair around a few times, tapping a pen on her glasses, until she was sure the other girl had gone. Then she leaned back in her chair, letting out a sigh. She set the clipboard down on a nearby desk and massaged her temples.

"Don't worry about me, Lin-chan. No, you really don't have to stay. Really. I insist." She cast the machine, a prototype spider-tank, a sour look. "If not for me, then for the tank at least."

Satomi pulled off her glasses and absently began to polish them. "Hakase Satomi," she murmured. "Also colloquially known as 'Professor'. Commonly believed to have sold her soul to Science." What a pity, she thought, that she hadn't known then that Science had a name. And a face.

All her life, Satomi had been the brightest girl in her year. By the end of primary school she had cemented her reputation as a genius. But it was lonely at the top. Chao Linshen had changed that. Suddenly Satomi had someone to look up to, someone to bounce ideas off of without getting a blank look or an uneasy chuckle in return. As much as she hated to admit it, two years ago not even the prospect of high explosives had excited her anymore. Now everything seemed so much better, but at the same time…

It was pathetic, almost, how she got so flustered when Linshen was around. She made stupid mistakes, she invented reasons to hover over her shoulder, she thrilled inside any time their fingers touched on a socket wrench. "Pathetic," she whispered, laying her glasses aside to wipe at her eyes. After a few moments, she reached for the wire frames again.

They weren't there.

"What?" Satomi spun her chair around and found herself nose-to-nose with Chao. The black frames of Satomi's glasses rested on the Chinese girl's permanently-blushed cheeks, just far away enough to focus her dancing amber eyes.

"Linshen-chan, I-"

"Satomi-chan, you seem to have misplaced your glasses -yo," Chao noted mischievously.

"I -- Linshen-chan, can I have those back?" Satomi asked desperately.

"Of course you can. Just do me a favor first -ne, Satomi-chan," Chao replied. She straightened up and produced a container from behind her back. "Try one of these new _nikuman_ I came up with. The recipe needs something, but I just can't figure it out -yo."

Satomi carefully took the round box from her friend, balancing it on her lap. She pulled the top off, expecting a rush of steam and the smell of Chao Bao Zi's famous meat buns. Instead, she saw several neatly-folded squares of blue paper. Without her glasses she couldn't be sure, but they looked like schematics.

"Linshen-chan, what are these?" she asked, looking up.

"That's our new project -yo," Chao replied with a wink. Suddenly, Satomi found herself leaning back in the chair as Chao loomed over her.

The kiss was much softer than the few romance novels she had read had led her to expect. Chao's lips felt like velvet fire against hers, and for a moment the world fell away.

"L- Lin-chan," she managed, when she could breathe again.

"You can have your glasses back -yo," Chao murmured, tucking the frames gently behind Satomi's ears. 'Take a look at the plans. I think you'll like them -ne."

After recovering the box from where it had fallen, Satomi leafed through the blueprints. "This is…" she began.

"A request job from the Ballistics Club. They wanted a land-based artillery platform, but they gave me plenty of design leeway -yo."

"I hope we can find a field big enough to test it in," Satomi mused.

"That's not all. See that piston system inside the main chassis -ne?"

"That block under the engine? I can't see what it's supposed to- oh. _Oh_."

"Yup," Chao replied, a proud smile spreading across her face. "They specified land-based. They didn't say it couldn't transform into a mecha -yo."

Satomi looked at Chao, tears sparkling in her eyes. "When can we start?" she whispered reverently.

"Now, if you don't mind being late tomorrow -yo."

"Not at all… as long as you stick around too, Linshen-chan."

It was funny, Satomi thought as she watched Chao bustle around the workroom, stopping now and again to clip a schematic to a cabinet or a wall. One would almost certainly expect Chao Linshen to taste like _nikuman_. She didn't. She tasted like… oranges, bathed in the rosy light of dawn.

Satomi wanted to stay there forever.


End file.
